SOAPS TO SARIS Emmerdale’s Gemma Atkinson reveals all about her rise to Bollywood fame

SOAPS TO SARIS Emmerdale’s Gemma Atkinson reveals all about her rise to Bollywood fameActress was offered lead role in the Indian thriller after the director saw one of her sexy mag shootsEXCLUSIVEBY LUCY JONES 1st August 2016, 12:20 am

SHE grew up in a mill town, rose to fame on teen soap Hollyoaks and loves sharing a bed with her pet dogs.Now Emmerdale star Gemma Atkinson has left her roots behind and headed to the dazzling world of Bollywood.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]10Gemma was picked to play a lead Bollywood role after the director saw one of her sexy magazine shootsThe Bury lass, who has also enjoyed a successful career as a glamour model for lingerie, swimwear and lads’ mags, is about to become Asia’s latest acting sensation.She makes her Bollywood debut in suspense thriller Fever, which is out this week.Gemma was picked to play the lead role Rhea Wagner by director Rajeev Jhaveri, after he saw one of her sexy magazine shoots.She has been catapulted into the Bollywood world of glitz and glamour where actors can earn up to £6million a film.In an exclusive interview with The Sun, 31-year-old Gemma reveals she is hoping to land more roles, despite early struggles over delivering her lines in Hindi.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]PAUL COUSANS1031-year-old Gemma told The Sun’s Lucy Jones that she is hoping to land more roles in BollywoodShe said: “I never i thought I’d be asked to star in a Bollywood film.“The director had seen magazine images of me and he thought I suited the part.“They needed an English girl for the role and he liked my look.“I didn’t realise the scale of it until I got there and saw how hard they work.“You hear people say the industry is bigger than Hollywood and it’s huge. I couldn’t believe the enormity of it.“It was an incredible experience and I’d definitely love to work more in Bollywood — if the script was great and the chance came around.”

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]PAUL COUSANS10The soap star said that she initially found learning her lines in Hindi very tricky[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]PAUL COUSANS10Gemma was given a tutor in Bradford who helped her speak HindiBefore stepping on set, Gemma had training in Hindi so she could better understand her scenes.Indian actor Yusuf Sultan was recruited to translate her script into English and teach her the dialogue.She said: “I was under the most pressure I have ever been. It was a fear of failing as it was my first Bollywood film.”Part of Fever was filmed in Switzerland and Gemma was on her own most of the time with only a Hindi-speaking crew.